Photochromic Panoptx

[kitty]

I am very close to biting the bullet and buying some Panoptx. I have a question for any of you with the photochromic lenses. Do these change tint in the car? If not, are they dark enough for driving? At my last visit to my optician, we got on the subject of photochromic lenses for my regular glasses, and he said those would not change tint in the car. Given the major investment here, I just want to make sure I make the right choice as far as options go. I'm leaning toward the Kona CV ColorTec Gray with removable eyecup. I will probably go to a local retailer and try some on before I place the order for the prescription version. Thanks for any help!

[calli66]

I wore photo gray glasses in the 70's and liked them. I tried them again several years ago and hated them. No, they're not particularly dark in the car. They respond to UV, not ambient light level. What I didn't like was when I was working outdoors under a bright, but overcast sky, they would turn very dark, making it difficult to see. The other negative thing was that I could see normal light levels out of the sides, top, and bottom of the glasses, which was hard to deal with. This would not be a problem with the Panoptyx when the eyecups are in, but perhaps when they are out.

I just bought Chinook Panoptyx with a "copper flash" lens. It's not refective, and is a medium darkness with a copper colored lens. These work fine for me in the car and when it's sunny.

The Bad.
The only bad thing--well--not bad, really, but I'm having to adjust to this: the eyecups and foam reduce some of the peripheral vision range that I normally have. So I'm having to be extra careful driving, changing lanes, backing up in parking lots.

The Good.
I notice a SIGNIFICANT increase in eye moisture and comfort during and after wear. Big Improvement--especially when driving around doing errands.

I would recommend Panoptyx, but you're right--get some more feedback, and go to a store and try some on.

C66
Be SURE to get a good fit, with no "gaps" between the foam lining and your face.

[Rebecca Petris]

Photochromic, wraparounds and driving

Driving & wraparounds is a toughie. I like photochromic lenses because you can wear them indoors easily but it's true that if you need to cut a lot of light while driving they won't do it. In fact with all the glasses I've tried (lots, believe me, since we stock several types of Panoptx and Wiley) I've never found that one single type worked in all situations.

My favourite for driving is actually Wiley-X JP-3P. I think I wrote up a review in this forum somewhere awhile back. We get a lot of sun here so the polarized lens is great for driving (also quite a bit cheaper than Panoptx' polarized) and the Wiley framestyle does not cut near as much peripheral vision. Drawback is they don't have the Panoptx style foam. So on bad eye days or getting into a very hot car that I have to cool down with a/c, I revert to the Panoptx Sirocco. With Panoptx I think the Colortec lenses (which are cheaper than polarized or photochromic - incidentally the copper ones calli66 mentions are Colortec Copper Flash and that's my preferred Panoptx lens too) really do quite well for driving.

[Lucy]

I'm confused

Well, just some of the time. I am befuddled by all the lens descriptions. Rather than ask what they are, I'll tell you what I have and how it works for me. I do not deal with as much sun as say....someone in Tampa. Sometimes we don't see the sun for a couple of weeks.

I have Panoptx Sirocco w/ RX and transition (day to night) lens. In the car when it's sunny, they are not very dark, but seem to suffice. I also have pretty good peripheral vision wearing the lens while driving. They are rather strange looking indoors with the foam inserts in place, but I've gotten away with taking the foam out and wearing in stores, etc if I don't want to appear too alien. People just think I'm wearing a weird pair of glasses. Without the foam, the glasses are still very protective because of the wrap. I wish I could have gotten the smaller size, but they did not come with removable foam inserts.

[kitty]

Thank you all for your feedback. There are so many things to consider. I had not even thought of the car AC, or the fan blowing in the car for that matter. I used to like to go for regular walks outside, and have cut way back because of the wind bothering my eyes. Now I am also thinking about the heat of the summer with my ceiling fans going. I am leaning towards the Panoptx with the removeable foam. I will also be going in for a DES follow up this week, and will ask my optician what brands they deal with, or what other options they might have.

[jcorbett]

On their websites, you can usually find a list of dealers in your area for the different brands discussed on this site. I was quite surprised at the number of dealers in my area and I am far from a major city. But call before you go, and see what they have in stock for you to try on. Some dealers only have a limited supply on hand.

[Rebecca Petris]

I am befuddled by all the lens descriptions.

The choices are confusing, no doubt about it. There are detailed descriptions on Panoptx site on this page. I tried to summarize all the options, going from cheapest to most expensive, on pages like this one.

[kitty]

Thank you Rebecca. The summary is most helpful!

[twist]

julbo

julbo makes some nice glasses that have worked quite well for me while driving or working outside. The Julbo advanced are photochromatic....fairly dark though........but I really like them. They are glacier or mountaineering shades..... Wrap around with a soft side shield. Best I have tried so far.................for what it is worth. Around $100.00 per pair though.

[Mastiff]

I was about to ask this same question, or more specifically, whether other people were having the same experience as me. I got the Panoptx vientos, and they are great, except I've almost never gotten the photochromic feature to do much of anything. Unless I'm standing in direct sunlight, with the light actually hitting the lenses, they are basically clear. This makes them not nearly as useful for me, since I want to use them either in cars or while wearing a hat.

No sunglass will fix the problem of the sun shining directly in your eyes, that's what I use hats and sun visors for. But it seems that that's almost what these glasses require to really darken up.